Hello, my name is Ben! I am an artist, illustrator and aspiring arborist. I was born in Alexandria, MN and lived there until my early twenties. I graduated from Alexandria Technical and Community College with my Associate of Applied Sciences (A.A.S.) in the spring of 2017. Since then I have been designing full time and traveling the country with my dog Harley. Over the past few years I've had the opportunity to live and work at The Jonsteen Company—a farm and tree nursery in northern California—where I learned the magic of permaculture, conservation, and the joy of tree growing. In my years on the farm I developed a green thumb, taking part in large scale tree plantings, wilderness seed/cone collections and multiple tree climbing events. Sharing a community garden, my eyes were opened to the idea of food independence, and self reliance. Using a 70w solar panel, I realized just how easy it is to create my own electricity, and utilize renewable energy, for free! Last year I spent the winter in an off-grid community/back country ski resort in the North Cascades of Washington, where a fast moving mountain creek generates 350kW/hour almost year round. In the spring I volunteered in Taos, New Mexico building Earthships, some of the most sustainable housing "vessels" on the planet. Alongside my passion for sustainable farming and illustration, I dream of a career in music.
